1100 days after resuscitation
Christian Eriksen hits right in the heart
By Anja Rau & Till Erdenberger
16.06.2024, 21:21
Cardiac arrest at the last European Football Championship, goal at this tournament: Denmark’s Christian Eriksen generates great emotions. Not everyone believes he can do great things, and his nomination is hotly debated. But against Slovenia it almost becomes too cheesy.
This goal hits right in the middle of the big emotions. Denmark’s Christian Eriksen scores his team’s first goal of the tournament on his return to the stage of a European football championship. It is exactly 1100 days since Eriksen caused the biggest possible shock at the continental European championship. Cardiac arrest on the pitch, fight against death, resuscitation.
Now he – equipped with a defibrillator – hits the heart of all fans and football lovers. In the 17th minute, the match against Slovenia (1:1) is over. A throw-in from the right side comes into the box, Wolfsburg’s Jonas Wind extends it with a heel into Eriksen’s path. The 32-year-old takes the ball and shoots it with his right foot into the bottom left corner. The jubilation from him, his coach Kasper Hjulmand, and his team is huge. “He has something very special. He played a fantastic game for us today and sets the pace for our team,” says Hjulmand. The emotions are so contradictory.
Three years and four days have passed since Eriksen almost died. He himself says of his fight for life that he was dead for five minutes, in the middle of Denmark’s opening match against Finland at the European Championships. On June 12, 2021, the whole of football Europe was worried about him after he collapsed on the pitch without any outside influence.
Eriksen plays with defibrillator
If it were a filmed drama, the script might include a voice in Eriksen’s head: “Christian,” the voice says to him, “you have come a long way to get here. Your heart is tired. You are tired. But it is not over yet. You still have something to do.” Then a lightning bolt strikes him and Christian Eriksen returns from where they had not yet expected him. He is tired, but he still has something to do. Another lightning bolt, and life returns. He hears the horrified silence, the fear, the sadness. It is not over yet. Yes, he still has something to do.
Because, as hardly anyone had dared to hope, Eriksen is not only alive, he has long since returned to playing football. He had a defibrillator implanted, which cost him his career at Inter Milan. Italy prohibits people with implanted defibrillators from playing contact sports because hitting the device could cause it to malfunction. Brentford FC from the Premier League signed him, and from there he moved on to league rivals Manchester United.
At the 2021 European Championship, his teammates drew energy from the drama and motivation of Eriksen, who was in hospital, and played for him all the way to the semi-finals, only to be defeated by England. In Qatar, at the desert World Cup, Eriksen was part of the team again. The Danes were eliminated in the preliminary round. The return to the European Championship stage is far more emotional for Eriksen and Denmark.
“He is our heart”
Before the kick-off, everything reminds us of the drama. Eriksen himself seems to have coped well with it: “It was my goal to get back to the highest level when I was told that I could still play football. It’s been three years now and I haven’t forgotten what happened. But it’s nothing that’s holding me back. I’m just looking forward to playing.”
The discussions about him in Denmark are not just about his cardiac arrest. Rather, the debate is about his value to the game. “Christian has a high level of game intelligence and the ability to position himself cleverly,” enthused Hjulmand. “He is our heart, he is our man on the field who can dictate the game. If he plays well, then we play well too.” Strike partner Rasmus Höjlund also said: Eriksen is a “world-class player” and will be “very important for the team” at the European Championships.
But not everyone saw it that way beforehand. He had not played much at Manchester United, and during the club’s crisis he was not coach Erik ten Hag’s first choice. And so some experts complained: “He has to prove that he can do more than just shine like he did in the test match against the Faroe Islands in March,” said 1992 European champion Flemming Povlsen to “Sport Bild”: “Christian has to improve and show that he can still lead Denmark.” And former international player Thomas Gravesen complained: The Eriksen “that we all know no longer exists.”
“Man of the Match”, but not entirely happy
In the match against Slovenia, Eriksen proved that his team could rely on him. He immediately took control of the game. The Danes combined powerfully towards the Slovenian goal, hardly giving the opponent a chance to breathe. In the 17th minute, the Eriksen fairytale was complete. “Anything that goes further than one game will be better for me than last time,” Eriksen said before the match.
Slovenia ensured that the whole thing didn’t end too cheesy and emotionally. Erik Janza (77th) equalized, but the loss of a point could be painful for Denmark. But Eriksen continued in the tournament. As “Man of the Match” – and even more importantly – healthy and fit and with a great desire to play football. “This time, fortunately, my story is completely different to the last European Championship,” said Eriksen: “All I had in mind was that I had never scored at a European Championship before – that’s all. At the end, of course, I would be in a much better mood if we had won.” The really big happy ending can still come.